Commemorated: | |||
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
He was the third son of Abraham, a grocer, and Betty. His brother was Councillor A A Kerfoot (died 1904).Born at Leigh, and he had lived at 68 Twist Lane Lancashire.
He married Sarah Helena Calland, known as Lena.
He is at rest in Leigh Cemetery.
Education & Career :
He went to Leigh Grammar School under Ralph Pass, becoming a pupil teacher and then served an apprenticeship as a Grocer under Mr T Darwell.
He helped form the Leigh Shop Assistants Union, and the first Ambulance Class in Leigh.
He opened his own shop on the corner of Market St and Sugar St, but it was lost to a road widening scheme. The compensation paid for the couple to emigrate to British Columbia.
He helped form the Sons of St George and joined the Sons of the British Empire, both patriotic associations.
He returned to Leigh before once again going abroad, this time to the Klondike for the Goldrush. He opened a store near the Klondike to cater to the prospectors.
After service in the Boer War he returned home but once again got restless, and became resident superintendent of the catering department of the Cape Government Railways. He also joined the St John's Ambulance Brigade on the Cape. He saw service with the Ambulance at the Bombata Rebellion in Natal.
He once again returned to Leigh before heading to India. He was a caterer on the East India Railways, stationed in Allahabad and Mokaimah, and then Calcutta.
He once again returned home after two and a half years in India to be appointed manager of the Swan Hotel, York and then the licensee of the Castle Hotel in Bangor.
Around this time he helped the Boy Scouts in his home town, becoming District Scoutmaster.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 5th Battalion Manchester Regiment |
1/5th Battalion August 1914 : in Bank Chambers, Wigan. Part of Manchester Brigade, East Lancashire Division. Moved to near Rochdale. 25 September 1914 : landed at Alexandria in Egypt. 6 May 1915 : landed on Gallipoli. 26 May 1915 : formation became 127th Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. 28 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli, landed on Mudros and proceeded to Egypt. 2March 1917 : landed Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front. |
| Action : Natural Causes |
Natural causes is attributed those deaths due to causes that were not directly associated with the war. Included in this are wartime deaths resulting from, for example, theSpanish Influenza pandemic and its associated pneumonia problems and other attributions such as age and exhaustion. It also groups those who through Post Traumatic Stress committed suicide as a result of their experiences.
He first vounteered for the South African or Boer War with the Second Canadian Mounted Rifles in 1900.
He then volunteered for the East India Railways Volunteer Rifles whilst working in India.
He volunteered for the third time at the outbreak of World War 1. He became the recruiting agent for Leigh & Atherton. He was capbadged in the Colonial and Overseas Infantry, which became 22nd Bttn Royal Fusiliers. Promoted Corporal and then Sergeant, he was commissioned on 17 August 1915 into the 3rd/5th Manchesters. Promoted Captain, and appointed Inspector of Catering under Northern Command he later became head of the Cookery School, Aldershot.
5th Manchester Regiment
A member of the regular army, worked as a recruiting officer and head of the catering school, Manchester Regiment School of Cookery.
Detail :
Died of natural courses after falling ill following an officer's funeral the previous week.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Lodge of Lights No. 148 E.C. | West Lancashire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
31st March 1897 | - | - |
Initiated into Lodge of Lights 31 March 1897, he was also member of Aldershot Camp Lodge No 1331.
In British Columbia he was a member of Greenwood Lodge and in India, the Prince Lodge in Calcutta.
He was also a Buffalo.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley